Tefillin Stories

"Where are there computers in the Torah?" Without hesitation the Rebbe answered, "Tefillin." The professor was perplexed

"Tell me, Rabbi," he called out anxiously, "if... if I put on tefillin, will G-d protect me?"

How tefillin saved a person's life again and again -- during the Holocaust and in its immediate aftermath.

"This was all good and well," explained the old navy diver, "when the ship had been under for a month or so. After that it would begin to rust and the hooks would bring up only huge chunks of iron, leaving the rest of the ship behind"

In his reply the Rebbe wrote: "Do you think it is right that a Jew who put on tefillin yesterday for the first time in over twenty years should wait another six weeks for you to buy him a pair of tefillin ?"

"That day the pitcher lost the game. But he won the World Series, and on his table were the tefillin," concluded the Rebbe. "In the end, he will give to them merit by putting them on"

the Germans often remarked to the Jews, "Why don't you commit suicide…?" Suicide was viewed as an immense desecration of G-d, for it showed that one had no trust in G-d's capability to save one from the accursed hands of the defilers...

Then with great effort he sat up in bed, took my hand, and said, "I have one very important last request to make of you." Tears flowed from his eyes...

Imprinted forever on the leather straps are lively testimonies to the spirit of the Jewish people. His hands have cast fingerprints that tell thousands of stories. This pair of tefillin is one of a kind – it vibrates with laughter and tears, and years of reviving souls around the world.

I was walking on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, California, when a Chabad rabbinical student asked me to put on tefillin. I blew up. I yelled at him, "You rotten Jew! You just embarrassed me in public." And I stormed away angrily.